Monday, February 24, 2014

Three great Treadmill workouts for the winter

For some of us, the cold and snow of winter signal the return to the treadmill. Treadmill training doesn't have to be mind-numbing,
though. A repertoire of creative workouts can allow you to both have fun
and significantly increase your fitness through the winter. Here are three of my favorite workout routines. You can do one per week for the next three weeks to spice up your winter training. Just make sure to recover properly as the body is not used to hard workouts throughout the winter - compression socks are a great recovery tool.

Workout #1: The Pyramid

Warm up for 15-20 minutes at an easy run pace then begin the incline pyramid.

Step 1 (climbing):

Run
3 minutes total at steady state pace but adjust the incline every
minute (1 minute at 4 percent incline, 1 minute at 5 percent and 1
minute at 6 percent) then

Recover for 2-3 minutes at 0 percent incline and recovery run pace

Step 2 (climbing):

Run 4 minutes total at steady state pace (1 minute at 5 percent incline, 1 minute at 6 percent and 2 minute at 7 percent) then

Recover for 2-3 minutes at 0 percent incline and recovery run pace

Step 3 (the peak!):

Run 4 minutes total at steady state pace (1 minute at 6 percent incline, 1 minute at 7 percent and 2 minute at 8 percent) then

Recover for 2-3 minutes at 0 percent incline and recovery run pace

Step 4 (descending):

Run 4 minutes total at steady state pace (1 minute at 7 percent incline, 1 minute at 6 percent and 2 minute at 5 percent) then

Recover for 2-3 minutes at 0 percent incline and recovery run pace

Step 5 (descending):

Run 4 minutes total at steady state pace (1 minute at 6 percent incline, 1 minute at 5 percent and 2 minute at 4 percent) then

Recover for 2-3 minutes at 0 percent incline and recovery run pace

Cool down for 10-15 minutes at an easy run pace.

Workout #2: Six / Sevens

Warm up for 15-20 minutes at an easy run pace then begin the six/sevens.

Run 90 seconds at 6 percent incline and marathon pace

Recover for 1 minute at 0 percent incline and recovery run pace

Run 60 seconds at 7 percent incline and marathon pace

Recover for 2 minutes at 0 percent incline and recovery run pace

Repeat this 6 to 10 times then cool down for 10-20 minutes at an easy run pace.

Workout #3: Faster, Faster

Warm up for 15-20 minutes at an easy run pace then begin the faster, faster repeats.

Run 400m (or a quarter mile) at easy run pace then increase the speed and

Run 400m at tempo run pace then increase the speed again and

Run 400m 5K race pace

Recover for 2 minutes at recovery run pace

Repeat
this 4 times then cool down for 15-30 minutes at an easy run pace. You
can set the incline anywhere between 0 and 1 percent based on your
preference.